Xinhua Agency reports that the parties have agreed to further strengthen cooperation on macroeconomic and health issues as coronavirus spread around the world.
Deputy Prime Minister of the State Council of China Liu He and U.S. trade negotiator Robert Lightheiser had a telephone conversation on Friday. During the conversation, the parties agreed to work on creating favorable conditions for the implementation of the first phase of the trade deal reached in January this year, Xinhua agency reports.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin also took part in the conversation. According to the agency, the parties agreed to further strengthen cooperation on macroeconomic and health issues in the conditions of coronavirus proliferation around the world. The U.S. and China have expressed their intention to continue to communicate and coordinate their actions.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump, answering a question from journalists at the White House about a deal with China, said he would make a statement “in one or two weeks” whether China is implementing the first phase of the trade agreement. At the same time, on May 3, the owner of the White House allowed the deal to be terminated if Beijing fails to meet its obligations.
A ceremony of signing the agreement on the first phase of the trade deal between the U.S. and China was held in Washington on January 15. Trump and Liu He gave their signatures to the document. In particular, China agreed to increase purchases of American products by $76.7 billion during the first year and by $123.3 billion during the second year of the agreement. We are talking not only about agricultural products, but also about other American goods.
Relations between the countries deteriorated markedly after the outbreak in China of the disease caused by the new coronavirus, which subsequently spread around the world. Washington accuses China of concealing information about the origin of the virus and the scope of the epidemic. Beijing, for its part, expressed regret that “some politicians use the virus situation to shelf China”.